Project Says Website Will Give Journalists the Rest of the Story
Martin Back on CNN; GLAAD Stance Is Wait and See
AP Updates Stylebook Entry on Racial Identification
Killing of Florida Teen Bubbling Up to National Attention
Malveaux on Leaving Bennett: “I Saw an Uphill Climb”
NABJ to Honor Monica Pearson, Longtime Atlanta Anchor
Afghan Official Threatens Wall Street Journal Reporter
Project Says Website Will Give Journalists Rest of the Story
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, known as GLAAD, launched a project on Wednesday designed “to educate the media about the extreme rhetoric of over three dozen activists who are often given a platform to speak in opposition to LGBT people and the issues that affect their lives.”
“Hate is not an expert opinion,” GLAAD spokesman Herndon Graddick 
said in a news release. “In most cases, news outlets invite reputable experts to speak on the subject at hand, but when talking about LGBT issues, open hostility and anti-LGBT bias seems to be all the credibility required. This project holds these so-called ‘pundits’ accountable for the extreme anti-LGBT rhetoric they continue to spread.” The organization listed the Southern Poverty Law Center as a resource for reporters writing about its project.
“The Commentator Accountability Project launches with a comprehensive set of online resources detailing the anti-LGBT, racist, and anti-woman sentiments of nearly three dozen anti-LGBT commentators who have appeared in local and national news. As more commentators engage in anti-LGBT rhetoric, new profiles will be added.” LGBT refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.
In an essay on mediaite.com, Aaron McQuade, a “straight ally” who is GLAAD’s director of news and field media, “The truth is, many newsrooms don’t actually know the extent of the animosity that these anti-LGBT activists hold towards the LGBT community. They’re often careful not to say these things in the mainstream media. But get them speaking to right-wing radio, or writing statements to their supporters, and you see them in a whole new way.
“Last year I spoke with a reporter from a very well-respected newspaper who had quoted one of the figures profiled in our project. I asked why the reporter had gone to this person for a quote. The reporter told me that an editor had demanded ‘balance.’ I explained that this person would only provide ‘balance’ if the LGBT advocates quoted were calling for criminal sanctions against heterosexuality, or said that straight people were ‘pawns of the enemy.’
“. . . Please note here that ‘accountability’ does not necessarily mean keeping these people out of the media. But if a reporter is interviewing someone who insinuates that his or her political opponent is controlled by the devil, it’s the reporter’s journalistic responsibility to put that person’s opinion in perspective.
“The Commentator Accountability Project contains facts that every journalist who covers LGBT issues should be familiar with, but usually is not. It’s the responsibility of journalists to inform their audiences about an issue. But it is also journalists’ responsibility to fully inform themselves about the people they’re calling on to provide opposition to the LGBT community, and to relay that information to their readers, listeners, or viewers.”
Martin Back on CNN; GLAAD Stance Is Wait and See
Roland Martin returned to a CNN newscast for the first time since a month-long suspension on Wednesday, participating in the morning “CNN Newsroom.”
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which strongly protested the commentator’s Twitter postings during the Super Bowl as anti-gay and called at first for his firing, said “it remains to be seen” whether the chastened Martin will meet its expectations.
Herndon Graddick, a spokesman for GLAAD, said Tuesday in an 
emailed statement to Journal-isms, “CNN’s suspension of Roland Martin sparked a nationwide dialogue about the prevalence of anti-LGBT violence and how language can contribute to that. We hoped that Martin would use this incident to speak out in support of LGBT people and against violence. It remains to be seen whether he will continue to use his platforms to do that.”
On “Newswatch,” Martin participated in a “Political Buzz” segment, described as a rapid-fire look at the best political topics of the day.
Told that exit polls from Tuesday’s Republican presidential primaries showed that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was favored by 46 percent of those who thought beating President Obama was the most important quality in a candidate, anchor Carol Costello asked, “. . . Should Romney just get on that horse and ride full-out to the finish line, don’t even talk about other issues?“
“If so, he will be dead in the water,” Martin replied. “You have to talk about the issues that people care about. You have to be focusing on the economy. What Romney [should] be doing is stop talking about NFL owners and NASCAR owners as being his friends and learn to sit down in living rooms to get an understanding of what mom CEOs and dad CEOs are talking about.”
Costello next played a clip of state Sen. Nina Turner, D-Ohio, saying, tongue-in-cheek, “It is patently unfair in this country that we simply only focus in on a woman’s reproductive health. We’ve got to show men that we care about them, too.”
Martin replied, “I support her 100 percent because when you check these guys who are making these decisions, they’re never talking to their mothers or their sisters or their wives or their daughters. And so absolutely, you say pull the Viagra. Trust me, their attitudes would change quickly.”
- Jon Friedman, Marketwatch.com: CNN: ‘Quality journalism is good business’
AP Updates Stylebook Entry on Racial Identification
“On Tuesday, the AP Stylebook updated its entry on when journalists should publish information about a person’s race,” Mallary Jean Tenore wrote Wednesday for the Poynter Institute.
“The update says that race is pertinent in stories about crime suspects who have been ‘sought by the police or missing person cases,’ so long as ‘police or other credible, detailed descriptions’ are used. When the suspect is found or apprehended, the update says, the racial reference should be removed.”
Tom Kent, the Associated Press standards editor, told Journal-isms that the language did not represent a change in policy, but simply added more detail. There was no particular news peg that prompted the new language. “We go through the book all the time,” he said.
The former entry on “race” read:
“Identification by race is pertinent:
- “In biographical and announcement stories that involve a feat or appointment not routinely associated with members of a particular race.
- “When it provides the reader with a substantial insight into conflicting emotions known or likely to be involved in a demonstration or similar event.
- “In some stories that involve a conflict, it is equally important to specify that an issue cuts across racial lines. If, for example, a demonstration by supporters of busing to achieve racial balance in schools includes a substantial number of whites, that fact should be noted.
- “Do not use racially derogatory terms unless they are part of a quotation that is essential to the story.”
The relevance of racial identifications was addressed in this space in 2010.
As Tenore pointed out, “My former colleague Keith Woods wrote that racial identifiers are rarely relevant or revealing and can perpetuate stereotypes. While they carry information about heritage and geography, they don’t describe much about a person’s physical appearance.”
Moreover, as Gary L. Wells wrote in 2007 on the Nieman Watchdog Web site, “Mistaken eyewitness identification is the most common cause of the conviction of innocent people. Since 1992, there have been 200 definitive exonerations of people whose convictions were overturned using forensic DNA testing, and mistaken eyewitness testimony was involved in 154 of those cases.”
Wells is professor of psychology at Iowa State University and director of social sciences at the American Judicature Society’s Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy.
“Cross-racial identifications are much less reliable,” Ezekiel R. Edwards, the Mayer Brown Eyewitness Fellow at the Innocence Project, told Journal-isms then.
The lesson for journalists, Edwards said, is to be skeptical when reporting eyewitness accounts of crimes.
Killing of Florida Teen Bubbling Up to National Attention
“James Davis gripped the hands of the people on either side of him, closed his eyes and prayed for justice in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin,” Bianca Prieto wrote Wednesday for the Orlando Sentinel as the case appeared to join others that have bubbled up to national attention.
“The lifelong Sanford resident was one of nearly 400 people, including many influential local civil-rights leaders and pastors, who packed the Allen Chapel AME Church to call for an arrest in the slaying of the unarmed black teen by a white crime-watch volunteer last month.”
” ‘What occurred here is tragic and horrific,’ said Davis, 64. ‘Every American citizen should be outraged.’
“Davis, like many others, thinks Trayvon was confronted — and ultimately shot to death — because he was black. The shooter, George Zimmerman, claimed he acted in self-defense and has not been arrested or charged. Sanford police say they don’t have enough evidence to make an arrest.
“But more than two weeks after the Feb. 26 incident, controversy continues to mount around the shooting and the Police Department’s handling of the case.”
Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton give the background in this change.org petition:
“On February 26, our son Trayvon Martin was shot and killed as he walked to a family member’s home from a convenience store where he had just bought some candy. He was only 17 years-old.
“Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman, admitted to police that he shot Trayvon in the chest. Zimmerman, the community’s self appointed ‘neighborhood watch leader,’ called the police to report a suspicious person when he saw Travyon, a young black man, walking from the store. But Zimmerman still hasn’t been charged for murdering my son.”
On Politic365.com, Charles Ellison wrote, “It won’t go unnoticed that the killing occurred in Florida, which will serve as a key battleground state during the 2012 elections.
“The state itself will be hotly contested, and some observers point to the caustic 2000 election decision as an unfortunate model. Given the state’s very diverse racial demographics, including its large Black and Latino populations, Martin’s shooting may end up becoming an emotional flashpoint that will eventually translate into mobilization on a massive scale. Brace for that in a big way, particularly if Martin’s shooter, George Zimmerman, continues to roam free despite his, to date, unapologetic confession to the killing.”
- Wayne Bennett, the Field Negro: Trayvon Martin, a widow’s defense, and an uninformed electorate.
- Ta-Nehisi Coates blog, the Atlantic: More on the Killing of Trayvon Martin
- Jonathan P. Hicks, BET.com: Case of Florida Teenager Killed by Neighborhood Watch Captain Intensifies
- Beth Kassab, Orlando Sentinel: Trayvon Martin would be alive if Neighborhood Watch rules followed
- Trymaine Lee, HuffPost BlackVoices: George Zimmerman Neighbors Complained About Aggressive Tactics Before Trayvon Martin Killing
- Fabiola Santiago, Miami Herald: Unarmed teen’s killing in Sanford deserves answers
- Cenk Uygur, Current TV: Lack of arrest in shooting of teenage Trayvon Martin is an outrageous display of racism
- Dr. Boyce Watkins, NewsOne.com: Trayvon Martin Shooting Should Spur National Outrage
- Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com: Teen’s Killing Harkens Back to Uglier Days
Malveaux on Leaving Bennett: “I Saw an Uphill Climb”
Julianne Malveaux, the economist and commentator who announced two weeks ago that she is resigning as president of Bennett College for Women, elaborated on her reasons this week in the syndicated column she has continued during her tenure at the Greensboro, N.C., school.
“. . . Why go? Because it’s time,” Malveaux wrote. “Because leading the college is easy and fun, but raising money is hard. In order to move into the next phase at Bennett, somehow we need to both enhance our endowment and raise enough moment to implement the strategic plan I led. Do I have the stomach for spending 80 percent of my time raising money? When asked the question, I had to go into deep prayer and meditation. The answer? No.
“External forces work against HBCUs,” historically black colleges and universities. “President Obama has been great in managing to keep the Pell grant level, but it needs to be larger. In North Carolina, the private colleges have been excluded from state lottery funds, reducing the money Bennett students can bring to the college. Key stakeholders committed for four years and may or may not renew commitment. The United Negro College [Fund] has slashed its appropriations to private colleges by more than 50 percent. When I looked at the factors in play, I saw an uphill climb. And five years of working at full speed, wearing myself down, convinced me that I didn’t have the energy for another uphill climb. . . .”
NABJ to Honor Monica Pearson, Longtime Atlanta Anchor
Veteran broadcast journalist Monica Pearson will receive the National Association of Black Journalists’ 2012 Legacy Award, NABJ announced on Tuesday. “The annual honor is awarded to an accomplished journalist who has broken barriers and blazed trails. . . .
” ‘Monica is an icon and for nearly four decades has served the Atlanta market giving a voice to the issues and interests of the city. She epitomizes the true meaning of this award, a true trailblazer opening the doors for women and for people of color in local news. Monica is most befitting of our annual Legacy Award,’ said NABJ President Gregory Lee Jr.
“Pearson, 64, is the longest-running anchor in the Atlanta market, working through seven presidencies and six Georgia governors as the state nearly doubled in size. For 37 years, she has served as an anchor at WSB-TV (Atlanta), where she presently co-anchors the 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts.”
Pearson was a 1969 graduate of Columbia University’s summer program to train minority journalists, a forerunner of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.
Afghan Official Threatens Wall Street Journal Reporter
Maria Abi-Habib‘s March 8 article “reported on accusations that Afghan 
Air Force personnel were involved in drug and weapons trafficking while using AAF aircraft,” Joel Simon, executive director of the committee, said in a letter to Karzai. “The story cited officials from the International Security Assistance Force openly saying they were investigating misconduct within the AAF. The article also said a separate investigation was being carried out by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
“The article also quoted several high-ranking Afghan government officials, including AAF spokesman Lt. Col. Mohammed Bahadur and Minister of Defense Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak. But Azimi’s statement, released two days later, contained personal attacks on the journalist in a seeming attempt to discredit her:
“Miss Maria Habib, a journalist of The Wall Street Journal deals with these matters with ultimate obsession; her untruthful reports are well-known amongst national and international media.
“Perhaps even worse, the statement ended on a threatening note:
“In reviewing this story by The Wall Street Journal it appears that political groups from different countries pay certain journalists such as Miss Habib who are seeking fame to broadcast such baseless and untruthful reports.
“Stating that someone is being paid by ‘political groups from different countries’ is a serious charge, one that puts any reporter in serious danger. The accusation is even more dangerous in a country like Afghanistan, where rule of law is relatively weak and threats, attacks, and murders take place with near-complete impunity.”
- Peter Hart, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting: Dead Afghans Muck Up War Strategy
- Arsalan Iftikhar, CNN.com: Leave Afghanistan Now
- Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Tragedy of Afghanistan is we’re still there
- Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald: Where is the outrage against Obama’s tactics in war on terror?
- Eugene Robinson, Washington Post: End the Afghan mission now
- Dawn Turner Trice, Chicago Tribune: Discharged but still not at ease
Short Takes
- “On Friday the President of low-lying Pacific island nation Kiribati (pronounced KEER-ih-bhass) told The Associated Press about a plan to buy land from Fiji as an ‘insurance policy’ against the effects of climate change,” Shauna Theel wrote Tuesday for Media Matters. “The land purchase would be large enough for the whole population of Kiribati to move should their country become uninhabitable. Not a single major newspaper or television news outlet has covered the story. . . . And while the mainstream media remains largely silent, Fox News has actively mocked the existential threat that faces the I-Kiribati and others.”
- “Actor and director George Clooney testified before Congress on Wednesday about ‘a campaign of murder’ under way in Sudan, where villagers run for the hills to hide from bombings on a daily basis,” CNN reported. ” ‘What you see is a constant drip of fear,’ Clooney said, a day after returning from a trip in which he and a small team of fellow activists managed to enter one of the most devastated areas, the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan.” New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof wrote two columns last month calling attention to the “great humanitarian catastrophe and vicious ethnic cleansing.”
- PBS journalist Gwen Ifill and Debra Lee, chairman and CEO of BET, were among the scheduled guests for Wednesday’s White House state dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron and Samantha Cameron, Cynthia Gordy reported for theRoot.com. Donovan Slack of Politico added that the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart was also on the list.
- Simon Dumenco, a columnist for Advertising Age, has “decided to pull out the big guns: He has formed a committee aiming to establish standards for aggregation” on the Web, David Carr wrote Monday in the New York Times. “Buckle up, here comes the Council on Ethical Blogging and Aggregation. . . . An august list of names has signed on to the effort. . . .” None of the names listed is a person of color, however, and Dumenco did not respond to an email request asking whether there were any. [Update: Dumenco replied on Thursday, “. . .In fact, there are probably more women then men who have said yes so far, and right from the start I’ve been reaching out to people of color, including Sheryl Huggins Salomon, managing editor of The Root (who I’m happy to say said yes) . . .]
- “Is any university in America still admitting students as print journalism majors?” Robert Niles asked Tuesday for the Online Journalism Review, noting “a LinkedIn research post that claimed that newspapers have shed a larger percentage of jobs that any other industry in America over the past five years. . . . Fortunately, there’s some very good news in the LinkedIn analysis. Take a look at the top three growing industries over the past five years. There’s the Internet at number two and Online Publishing at number three. That’s the future of journalism education right there — fulfilling the growing need for instruction and guidance in profitable and community-building communication in the growing online publishing media.”
- “On February 2, 2011, President Obama called Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh,” Jeremy Scahill wrote Tuesday for the Nation. “The two discussed counterterrorism cooperation and the battle against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. At the end of the call, according to a White House read-out, Obama ‘expressed concern’ over the release of a man named Abdulelah Haider Shaye, whom Obama said ‘had been sentenced to five years in prison for his association with AQAP.’ It turned out that Shaye had not yet been released at the time of the call, but Saleh did have a pardon for him prepared and was ready to sign it. . . . Abdulelah Haider Shaye is not an Islamist militant or an Al Qaeda operative. He is a journalist.”
- “Conspiracy theorists will have a field day stirring this up: Sue Simmons is off this week,” Richard Huff and David Hinckley wrote Monday for the Daily News in New York. “The Ch. 4 anchor is on vacation. The time away was planned long before word officially got out she was leaving in June, a departure that was set up in her last contract discussion.”
- David J. Dent, a journalism professor at New York University, has analyzed primary voting Tuesday in Mississippi and Alabama counties that went for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 but for Barack Obama in 2008. “Mitt Romney won four of the five Bush-Obama counties in Mississippi and the only Bush-Obama County in Alabama. The results amplify the conventional idea that Mitt Romney would be a stronger opponent to the president in the pivotal, swing Bush-Obama counties,” Dent wrote.
- Radio reaches 95 percent of Hispanics aged 12 and older, and approximately 93 percent of the black (non-Hispanic) population in the March RADAR® 112 National Radio Listening Report, Arbitron reported on Tuesday. “The report shows radio’s audience remains steady with 241.2 million people aged 12 and older tuning in on a weekly basis, representing approximately 93% of the population.” More on the black and Hispanic listenerships.
- “In an interesting development for mobile journalism,” Al Jazeera was due to broadcast a documentary on Syria Wednesday night that was filmed by a journalist using just an iPhone due to safety concerns,” Rachel McAthy reported for journalism.co.uk.
- In Tampa, Fla., WDAE-AM sports radio talk host Dan Sileo has been let go “after noting on air that he was excited the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might sign three African American free agent players, calling them ‘those three monkeys,’ ” Eric Deggans reported Tuesday for the Tampa Bay Times. “In a short Twitter message to me, Sileo wrote it was a slip of the tongue. ‘I didn’t even realize I said it ’til someone told me,’ ” Deggans wrote.
- “Attacking or intimidating journalists in Mexico would become a federal crime under a constitutional reform approved Tuesday by Mexican lawmakers,” Ken Ellingwood wrote Tuesday for the Los Angeles Times. “The measure, approved unanimously by the Senate, is seen as a way to bolster protection for journalists, who have been targeted frequently as drug violence across the country has soared during the last 5 1/2 years.”
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